Nathan Gardner (born 3 July 1990), also known by the nickname of "Gards", is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who has played in the 2000s and 2010s. He has played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, usually as a , but also as a . He previously played for the Parramatta Eels Toyota Cup (Under-20s) team and Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. He made his National Rugby League (NRL) premiership début in the 2010 season against the Penrith Panthers. Early career As a junior, Gardner played for the Fairfield United Rugby League Club before moving on to play for the Cabramatta Two Blues. Gardner attended Patrician Brothers' College, Fairfield a noted rugby league school. He earned representative honours when he was selected to play for the Australian school boys team at the Under-15s level and earned further representative honours, playing for New South Wales at under 17 level. Gardner was signed by the Parramatta Eels for the 2008 season and began playing in their Toyota Cup (Under-20s) team. In his first season at the club he played a total of 16 games and scored 136 points including kicking 32 goals from 44 attempts as well as scoring 18 tries. Those 18 tries included four in one game against the St. George-Illawarra Dragons as well as a hat-trick against the Penrith Panthers. A shoulder injury kept him out for the beginning of the 2009 season but he returned to action against the Dragons in round 5 and scored two tries including an 80 metre effort. He played a further 13 games for the season, scoring 100 points including 12 tries and 26 goals from 41 attempts. His season came to a premature end when he suffered a hamstring strain in the round 21 clash against the Sharks. In total he played 29 Toyota Cup games for the club scoring more than a try a game with 30 tries and kicking 58 goals for a tally of 236 points. Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks After the 2009 season, Gardner was signed during the off-season by Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks coach Ricky Stuart. Gardner explained the reasoning behind his move, stating that he moved to the Sharks to get the chance to play first-grade football. He came off the bench in the trial matches against Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and the Wests Tigers, although he began the season in the Toyota Cup competition. He scored a try in each of his first two